Save the Clock Tower

People older than me have always said something to the effect of “time passes faster as you age.” Once in a while I see how this has occurred in my life. An example that continues to come up: Back to the Future. Especially Back to the Future Part II (Marty travelled to 2015, yikes!).

I associate BTTF with 1985 and 1955. Marty McFly goes so far back in time that everything is quaint and foreign. The music is strange, fashions are strange, cars have fins. It was clearly another time to my 1980s childhood self.

But if BTTF came out today, Marty would go all the way back to…1984. The joke about Ronald Reagan (“The actor?!?”) being president, well, 2014 Marty would arrive during his time in office.

The cultural significance of the three films in the series ranges from the DeLorean to “Great Scott!” to 1.21 jiggawatts to the Hoverboard. Of course, these aren’t the only words that Back to the Future has added to the lexicon. There is also a new definition of a humble greeting:

‘Back to the Future’ provides the OED’s earliest ex. of ‘hello’ implying that a person is not paying attention: http://t.co/HDy2RP7WuZ